March 2013 Conservation Notes

Keystone XL Pipeline

On March 1, the US State Department released a draft assessment of
the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The Department concluded that
the pipeline would “not likely result in significant environmental
effects”.

The Keystone XL pipeline links Canadian tar sands with US Gulf Coast
refineries. It would carry a highly toxic oily compound known as
bitumen. Pipelines often leak, sometimes severely despite precautions.

President Obama could cancel the proposed Keystone XL pipeline
because it would cross an international border. Our State Department’s
draft evaluation of the project suggests the Department supports
presidential approval.

More than 40,000 environmental activists visited Washington DC last
month, protesting the Keystone XL pipeline project. Many demonstrators
were arrested for blocking the sidewalk in front of the White House.
Among those arrested were actress Daryl Hannah, civil rights leader
Julian Bond, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his son Conor, climate change
activist Bill McKibben and Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune.

The Sierra Club leader’s actions ended the club’s 120 year
prohibition against civil disobedience. Michael Brune summed up the
reason for this major policy change:

“This particular project—Keystone XL pipeline—is so horrendous, it’s
so wrong and it’s being proposed at such an important time that we
don’t want to leave any tool on the table.” Brune also said that this
pipeline would “guarantee that we’re locked into the most
carbon-intensive fuel source on the planet”.

Let’s hope that President Obama is serious about combating climate change and halts this pipeline threat.